Scotiabank files to raise up to $7 billion in shares, debt

(Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia filed with U.S. regulators to offer common shares, preferred shares and debt worth up to $7 billion.

Scotiabank, Canada's No. 3 lender, said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that proceeds from the offering would be used for general banking purposes.

This was an extension of an existing shelf filing and brought the total securities it could sell under the filing to about $25 billion, a Scotiabank spokesman said.

The bank said earlier this month it was cutting about 1,500 jobs, mainly due to branch closures and changes in its leadership structure, and would take a pre-tax charge that would reduce fourth-quarter earnings by about 28 Canadian cents per share.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its shelf offering is used to calculate registration fees. The final amount to be raised could be different.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore and Jeffrey Hodgson in Toronto; Editing by Maju Samuel and Cynthia Osterman)